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Thalia spied Faye down below, and Atlas who was carrying a body with a familiar face. What was his name again? Ronald? It was the Thaa'nas that Thalia had flirted with when she met Faye. As she got closer to him she could tell that he was definitely real. A grin plastered itself on her face and the distant voice inside her head began to purr as Thalia began to enter that killing calm that had ended the lives of thousands of people. She had a few small knives and one big knife, all of which were more than enough to take this guy out.

With stealth, unnerving quickness, and pinpoint accuracy, Thalia launched her first throwing knife. It flew nowhere near the masked man, but instead crashed into a lantern down below, sending glass and inflamed oil crashing into the stones beneath it. Before the man turned his head in reflex of the crashing down below, Thalia was in the air vaulting over to the rooftop where he drew his weapon. She was light and quiet, but even decades of training wouldn't muffle the sound of her crashing onto the rooftop behind the masked man and rolling into position behind him. By the time he turned towards Thalia's initial crash into the roof, she had already rolled behind him. An arm wrapped around the man's shoulder, a hand gripping a small knife to his throat. "What do you plan on doing with that thing," she purred sensually in his ear as something tugged between his legs. Thalia's other hand was between his legs, clutching her larger knife against his thighs and anything else he had hanging between them. "I assume you're out here to do more than look at the stars, hmm?"

While her pose looked strong, in truth her legs were already pretty tense from the climb and jumping, and her back was pretty sore from the impact. She'd wager that even on her worst day she could beat the Lord Commander herself in one on one combat, but Thalia did have a tendency to bite off more than she could chew. The blood rushing through her veins was only making her feel the alcohol even more. Hopefully this guy wasn't the fighting type.

SPAC: Genesis
"Everything I've done up until now... it was all for nothing."

Mari rolled her eyes, looking away from Hunter for a moment, glancing around the inn to see if anybody noticeable was around.

"Fishy to say the least. The CEO of Grayore Industries bailed me out. Said he needed my help with a common enemy. All I saw was a way to get out of prison and regather. But having those 4 hounds around is worse than being locked up." she muttered, subtly pointing towards the two legionnaires sitting at the counter when she mentioned the hounds. She grabbed her pint off the table and took a big chug before continuing her train of thought.

"Don't worry about the territory. Right now we have to scramble for personnel and resources. Gather Takeo and Reysa and try clearing as many hideouts as possible. Bring whatever you find at the old outpost outside Salvation Point. Tomorrow I will be moved at the Grayore Industries warehouse in the Market area, so we'll meet there." Mari nodded at Hunter and stood up from her stool, patting the man on the back while doing so. She planned to make her way through the crowd and back in her room, to reflect on the situation.

Spoiler for Quotes worth Remembering:

Show

"I mean, also it's a collab so like there's what I wrote which is a dick to the face and what devi wrote for example which is actually pretty decent and setting up something later possibly. And yes, i said devi and actually pretty decent in the same sentence. Never speak of this" -Chrome-

Faye walked cautiously, looking around and into every alleyway they passed by. So did Atlas, although his gaze unaffected by darkness slowly swayed from side to side, smooth movement interrupted only by sudden sounds and movements. Lamp suddenly breaking into tiny pieces in front of them was in fact such disruption.

"What the..." The girl didn't even had much time to react as her automaton stepped right in front of her arbitrarily, forcing the Thaa'nas to stop and even take few steps back. With a quiet bellow coming from his core and one arm at ready, he looked towards the rooftops and froze. Even if Faye and the guards haven't spotted what caused the 'explosion', Atlas was programmed to spot such subtle movements, and track their source. After all, he wasn't only destined for heavy lifting labor, but for combat use as well.

"Roofs...Of course..." Cold shiver went down Faye's spine as her eyes - following Atlas' - helplessly tried to see anything past buildings' edge. She thought it was over, but at the same time it was her that said Whoever did this should not be far away. Her screaming probably haven't startled the evildoer either. Instead it could've brought him back to finish the job... How did he manage to miss by that much though? Judging by Ravhin's wounds and a corpse behind the corner, this person wasn't fond of warning shots. Puzzled and in kind of an impasse, Faye found herself quite incapable of moving from her spot for a moment, staring, listening. Waiting for something else bad to happen. "Crap..." As long as he remained unseen and above, the assailant had the vital advantage. There was really not much she could do. At least not now when Ravhin's life was at stake and Atlas had to take care of him.

"Alright, keep moving, and your eyes peeled. The inn is straight ahead. I'll have my hands untied, once we secure the wounded." The Thaa'nas finally ordered and raised her hand as if she was about to start preaching. The air above the group shook and swirled as if in like a hot day, and the girl began to move with a brisk step, constantly looking around...and up. Putting on a Maat barrier above them meant she couldn't maintain the healing spell on Ravhin, but at least they won't risk getting shot or jumped.

I should probably try and find something interesting to put in here...

Thalia Valgeiros, the Plaza of the Monolith | Rooftops
"None of your business, lady," the man said gruffly, unfazed by the knife at his throat though he slightly inched a bit to the left. The blade to his balls wasn't exactly comforting. "I do appreciate your closeness, these nights are chilly but I'm busy. Maybe you could come back later. I can let you handle my stuff, preferably bladeless and without clothing."

Thalia suddenly heard footsteps just behind her as if someone had just arrived.

"Now's not the time for this," the voice said, directed at the crossbowman. Thalia risked a peek at the newcomer whilst keeping her blade right at her captive's throat. She noticed the man's attire, similar to her own assassin's garb, he also held five bolts in his hand. "You, woman, leave the scene before you become part of it."

"Tch!" the crossbowman growled. "Thaa'nas brought up a barrier."

Faye Petralis, the Plaza of the Monolith | Streets
The two legionnaires raised their shields only to realize they were already behind a white magical membrane of Faye's doing. Atlas was still on alert as they moved slowly towards the inn.

"Where did that come from?" Trivana asked, her eyes darting from street to street. Reevus breathed in as he gazed higher then to the ground where the lamp was. The legionnaire rushed towards it and found a small knife, embedded onto the street.

"This be the cause," Reevus muttered. "I s'ppose the owner should be around as well. Seems like good craftsmanship s'well..." The legionnaire turned the blade sideways and checked for its sharpness.

"We should keep moving," Trivana reminded. "The Lord Commander needs to know about this. Lead the way, Thaa'nas."

"Well it has been a while since I've had a good fuck, maybe you'd like to bring your buddy along for some fun." The blade went higher and pressed into the man's thigh as Thalia pulled him closer, "I hope you're not the shy type." She had a pretty bad feeling about these two, but she was either too intoxicated or stupid to humor any instincts of warning that she might have had. "As a professional courtesy, if you tell me what your business is with these Thaa'nas, I'll leave everything intact in case you decide to come calling later." Thalia tugged on the dagger again, pressing it harder. The only thing keeping it from cutting flesh was the clothes the man wore. "I hear it's a man's most valuable possession, and those that lose it often become depressed and kill themselves. Of course, if they don't bleed out first. Who knows, maybe size does matter." She gave the other man a glance, warning him that he would be next if he tried anything.

SPAC: Genesis
"Everything I've done up until now... it was all for nothing."

"From the roofs..." Faye said as she approached the Legionnaires. "Pretty sure he's above us..." The girl took the knife from a male guard and ran her thumb on the smooth surface of it, before tucking it in her pocket. "Point for Atlas..." She murmured. "Lets not get distracted, we're on borrowed time." The Thaa'nas looked around once more, once more carefully swooping the rooftops with her eyes before resuming her walk.

I should probably try and find something interesting to put in here...

Thalia Valgeiros, the Plaza of the Monolith | Rooftops
"Welcome to the scene," the assassin said coolly as his eyes focused on Thalia's. The woman's vision swirled, colors emptied like water in a drain just behind the assassin, everything else was nothing but the void. The void, herself and the man. Thalia's muscles relaxed and she let go of her captive. "Your memories, seems that you are like me. Well, once before. Retired now are we?"

After a few moments, the man's hands revealed that it was weaving haeras, a pattern of which Thalia recognized but did not understand. The retired assassin, despite the strangle hold on her mind, was able to focus her sight enough to get a good look at the man. Short blonde hair with his face hidden by a mask similar to the crossbowman. Thalia made sure to recognize the man’s face.

"Very interesting," the man said. "You lead a life very similar to my own until you disobeyed and inevitably broke yourself.1 And now you're just hiding from your past. I guess I could just allow all your fears bubble up inside you."

The man shifted the movement of his hands, and suddenly Thalia felt her deepest fears rise from the depths of her mind. The voices in her head worsened and her heart began to pump faster from the adrenaline. Thalia knelt from the pain only to feel it subside in an instant. She looked up and saw the man had halted his gestures and turned his head to someplace as if he was being spoken to, suddenly color began to paint the world again but she felt too weak to move.

"Business calls elsewhere," the man said. "We will probably meet sometime later, Thalia. You were quite the name before, now you seem like a shadow of your former self. Pity."

With that, the two left the rooftop, leaving the retired assassin to her thoughts. The voices had returned to their usual levels of annoyance but her head felt as if it were ransacked and thrown this way and that.

Faye Petralis, the Dancing Horseman | Front
Faye, Atlas and the legionnaires arrived at the front of the inn. Trivana immediately entered the premises and looked for the other legionnaires, leaving Faye outside with Reevus and Atlas.

"Go ahead, Thaa'nas," Reevus offered. "I'll be guarding the door."

FOOTNOTES1Having trained in Hiraya herself, Thalia can resist any more of this, however she is rusty.

Thalia had mentioned that she hated Thaa'nas, but her hatred was much much deeper than just Thaa'nas. Thalia fucking loathed magic. The woman held no true fear of anything worldly other than succumbing to her own power, or more specifically her lack of control. She was quite the master when it came to channeling her Isfet, but her every day curse is a haunting reminder of her lack of control with Hiraya. It took every ounce of willpower she had to keep the lid on her magic, but biting down through the way this man manipulated her was almost too much to bear. What would be the price, the price of a brief moment of silence, to make this masked man shut the fuck up. How many people had to die, how many had to live the rest of their lives suffering because Thalia gave in to her power and lost control again? Just as quickly as the pain and memories flooded in, they were extinguished and the two men were gone. She hardly heard or noticed anything afterward.

It took several minutes for Thalia to regain control of herself, to calm herself down. She climbed off of the rooftop and dragged herself back into the street, knives once again concealed. She wanted to very much tell herself that what she had briefly seen wasn't real that it was just some trick to spook her, but she knew better. Forcing her legs to move, Thalia made it closer and closer to the Dancing Horseman where she spied Atlas outside with a Legionnaire keeping watch. Her face was pale, eyes wide as she chewed on her lip, like she had seen a ghost, hundreds of ghosts, a flurry of fire and steel, and one body, burning and screaming and crying for a death that would come too slowly. Thalia fell into the side of the Dancing Horseman, barely catching herself, but completely unable to hold back as she vomited on the side of the building until there was nothing left in her stomach. She held a hand up, making the guard give her some space until she was done.

It doesn't hurt anymore, Fireheart.

Thalia heaved again, more violently than the last, but there was nothing left.

SPAC: Genesis
"Everything I've done up until now... it was all for nothing."

As he saw Faye return he didn't know what to say. She was covered in blood and behind her was the barely living body of who he suspected was an associate. He wanted to be some form of morale support, but couldn't think of the words to say. But perhaps in this situation, what was needed weren't words. The wine made navigation a bit of a challenge, the artist's hand gliding against the wall to help guide him through his room, avoiding the desk and other obstacles. He walked out of his room and down the stairs where he had a hard time moving through the jostling crowds, the 2nd flagon of wine seeming to have blessed him with two left feet. However, with many apologies on his end, he eventually made it to the entrance where found Faye walking through the door. He didn't say anything but as they came face to face, he swept her into a warm hug. His long arms wrapped around her body and drew her close, her head tucked between his shoulder and own head. He ignored the blood as the msssage was more important than his clothing. "I'm sorry..." was all he stated as he held the hug. He didn't know what to expect from her end, be it a slap, her pulling back, or even her crying. But he just knew the right thing was to hug her.

I am prepared to meet my maker.
Whether or not he's prepared to meet me....
well that's another matter, isn't it?

Atlas was obviously too big to continue through the inn's door, so instead, only his arm and Ravhin on top of it made it through the doorway once Faye entered. It was no big surprise her entry was met with sudden silence and stares, by no means for the reason the girl would like it to be. Her now torn, bright clothing was almost drenched in blood, sweat and dirt, so where her hands, knees and calves. There were even few smudges on her face, as she tried to keep her hair off her eyes. In the light, it also became apparent that she was still shaking a little. "Take him to my room. Bring towels, clean water and bandages if you happen to have any...I'll pay for all, and the property damage." The Thaa'nas requested from the staff after a moment of reciprocating the silence and gazes given to her, then as she was turning to go upstairs herself, somebody collided with her.

The girl staggered slightly at the sudden impact. It was Lavernius, hugging her tightly. "I uh..." She blinked few times in surprise, before she gave in and squeezed his waist with her arms as well. His body was warm, but this time the warmth hasn't come from blood flowing out, fortunately. "Thank you but...he's not dead yet, and I'd like to keep it that way." Faye gently pulled back and smiled to the man, her face expression being hers again, rather than this of the Thaa'nas from minute ago.

She quickly looked past him to see her orders being carried away as Ravhin's body was already being moved upstairs, and Atlas unblocked the doorways taking guard by the Legionnaire outside. The girl took Lavernius' hand, and placed her other palm over it holding it for a moment with a smile, before she ran away to unlock the doors and prepare the bed for her patient. Her whole room was covered in papers, as she tried to organize them this morning and now she had to quickly throw piles of them off the bed, before Ravhin's body was placed on it.

Waiting for requested materials to be brought to her, the Thaa'nas didn't even bother with closing the doors, sitting with her back to it and resuming the healing procedure, carefully examining man's wounds, now that she had much more light to work with. "What did you get yourself into...What did I get myself into..."

I should probably try and find something interesting to put in here...